


All Fun And Games

by lilacharry



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Businessman Louis, Fluff, M/M, Singer Harry, basically a long cheesy fluffy fic appealing to anyone that enjoys the emotion of happiness
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-08-14
Updated: 2016-08-14
Packaged: 2018-08-08 15:56:29
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 15,038
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7763980
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lilacharry/pseuds/lilacharry
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A story in which a young and successful businessman finds a sense of adventure amongst other things as a boy with flowers instead of eyes exposes him to what he had been missing out on for so long: fun.</p>
            </blockquote>





	All Fun And Games

**Author's Note:**

> Hello!
> 
> First off, I want to thank everyone who opened this fic and is taking the time to read it! I wrote this a while back and recently stumbled upon it while revisiting some other unrelated writings. I figured that I would post it instead of letting it collect dust in my drafts because I do consider it some of my best work! I hope you enjoy it and if it does gain some attention, I'll maybe revisit it and finish it up, so leave some kudos and comments if you enjoy! Thank you again and if you'd like to talk to me or know more about me in general, you can visit my tumblr: @harryswhitepants !!!!!

_**April 29th, 2016** _

 

His dark-tinted eyes watched as the accumulating condensation beat down the cup's sharp edges. His irises nearly matched the color of the dreary atmosphere outside, leaving the only main source of light to be the artificial bulbs placed equally distanced above him. The unnatural light reflected from the crystal glass' dimensions onto the dark wooden table expanding before him. 

His eyes were being hit by a sliver of the sun so beautifully as it began set between the rain clouds, revealing their glisten of exotic tones amongst light blues and grays that some would even consider defining as silver.

The spacious room he currently occupied reeked of expensive cigars and cologne you wouldn't find in any old shopping centre or your everyday John Lewis, a mixture of stench he'd become so immune to ages ago.

He pursed his lips harshly and furrowed his eyebrows before reaching for the liquor-filled glass, leaning forward from his medically cushioned seat. He stared down into his glass for a minute as his wrist circled in a sluggish motion to mix the light liquid, beginning to ease back to his former comfortable position. The cold, transparent glass pressed against his lips, barely retrieving any liquid before an annoyingly obnoxious buzzing noise came from the corner of the desk.

He narrowed his clouded eyes at the iPhone, barely visible as it was pushed under a stack of piled up manila folders. The vibrations shook the tower to a threateningly messy degree and made such a horrible sound that he thought Satan himself would be irritated by. This all drove him to set his glass down gently and roll over as quickly as possible to retrieve it.

" _Mum_ " with a red emoji heart next to it was written across the screen.

A couple of months beforehand, his mum would call him once in a blue moon. Maybe it was because she knew how busy his hectic work life was or because he was slightly more accompanied, but now she made sure her own daily schedule included talking to him over the phone at least once.

"Hello?" his business voice asked unintentionally assertive, his eyes watching his own slim fingers dance along the edge of the desk.

"Now Louis, you know that's no way to address your own mum!" she replied in her usual bubbly tone, enthusiasm filling every corner of her voice at the sound of her own son. The sides of his mouth perked up ever so slightly as he stood up from his seat.

"Sorry. Just got finished with a massive meeting and the corporation is scheduling reduces to some unnecessary expenses. Apparently corporate stocks we have have been declining drastically and-" he stopped himself from babbling, still in his workday mindset. "It's just been a long day," he sighed exhaustively, sending a hand into his pocket as he began to walk to his large, tacky ceiling-to-floor mirror.

The brown carved mirror laid against the wall, across from his desk yet on the other side of the gigantically spaced-out office. He'd meant to move it when it was gifted to him a while ago by a very thankful business partner, but he never got around to it because of his lack of interest and strength to.

"Well, I'm sorry to hear that Lou. I was just calling to see how you were doing today," her voice spoke softer as Louis took out his loud clattering keys, using his other free hand to fix his styled upwards, oak wood-esque, brown hair.

He held the large iPhone between his shoulder and ear tightly. "Well, yeah mum. Just like every other day you call me at," he looked to the digital clock sitting neatly on his desk, "6 o'clock." He removed a black fuzz from the keys before picking up, and nearly dropping, his phone back into his hand.

"Well, I can't be concerned about my little boy?" she asked in a jokingly offended tone as he fixed his already perfectly placed tie in the mirror. Louis let out a playful scoff at the words " _little boy_ ".

"Lou-Rida!" an Irish voice thundered as the office door swung open violently. Louis' head snapped over to the dirty blonde, wearing a black polo and fitted white slacks, barging into his office unexpectedly and most definitely uninvited.

"Is that Niall? Tell Niall I said hello, Lou!" his mum shouted ecstatically, making sure to yell into the phone to emphasize her very important request. Louis' eyes followed Niall's peppy movements to the office chair, accenting each step with a hop and eccentric swinging arm motion.

"Okay, okay. Niall, me mum says hello," Louis passed the message on, holding the phone away from his ear and making eye contact with Niall in the mirror. Niall's mouth formed a wide, teeth showing smile as he waved animatedly, as if she was going to see him.

"Get your disgusting caddy shoes off my desk Horan!" Louis said before directing his eyes back to himself, making Niall cackle behind him noisily.

"Niall said hello," he assured her, quiet and smiling ever so slightly to himself.

"Aw, I haven't seen little Niall in forever! Tell him to tell Maura to call me, we haven't spoken in ages," she drug out the "aw", making sure to speak in her less threatening yet authoritative tone.

Louis giggled light-heartily, "ok mum. Will do."

She sighed amply as silence filled the line. "How's your back today? Is it good?"

Niall chuckled loudly from behind him, grasping Louis' attention as he laughed at something on his phone. He faced the screen towards Louis, reveling a Vine of a dog being rolled a tennis ball and lazily letting it roll between his front paws.

Louis shook his head and looked back to himself in the mirror, guilty giggling, "my back is fine. It's been fine for years now."

"I know, I know. I just want to make sure everything's good with you and the office and things," she spoke as Louis straightened out his eyebrow closely in the mirror.

"Yep," he replied softly, "everything here is... allllright."

"Well, that's great to hear. Oh no," her voice said after multiple younger, rushed voices accompanied the line, "Louis, I've got to be going. One of your many lovely, _lovely_ siblings just broke something in the other room, I hear. If you need anything, just call me, alright? I love you so much."

"Love you too mum," he replied softly before hanging up.

He spun around briskly, facing towards Niall, who was smiling devilishly wide as he played with the footie shaped paper weight that Louis was certain he hid in his desk some time ago. "How many times have I told you that you can't just barge into my work space?" he asked with arched eyebrows.

"But this is an emergency," Niall said without trying to fight back his laugh, leaning forward and pressing his hands down onto the desk. "£2.50 beers at Es-tray-ellas tonight," he said, trying ever so hard to keep a serious face.

Louis raised his dark eyebrows, speaking quieter, "that's what you came here for? £2 shitty beers?"

"Well, we all can't be successful businessmen Lewis! C'mon, drinks on me mate!" Niall spoke as his usual cheerful self, jumping up from the chair and jigging all the way to the door.

"Always incredibly Irish, now aren't you?" Louis chuckled to himself as he also made his way to the door, less enthusiastically by walking.

He picked up his black suit jacket as Niall giddily hopped out the door and all the way to the sleek steel lift. Louis' narrowed eyes scanned the area on his desk before they landed on the abandoned drink, accumulating an abundance of sweat underneath itself. He swiftly turned around, pretending to not see it and walk out the office, locking the door behind him.

He strolled slowly as he adjusted his coat over his forearm, looking down at it and being asked a few simple questions along the way by hectic employees that were all too scared of him.

He finally found the lift, where Niall was holding it open and making all the other people in it undoubtedly angry. Immediately when Louis stepped his foot into the lift, however, the furious mumbling came to a noticeable halt.

Louis didn't exactly like being seen as the "bad cop", not caring much for being the Mr. Tomlinson that people whispered about behind closed doors and still feared that he'd somehow hear them. Or the Mr. Tomlinson that employees seemed to be so cautious and aware around, everyone in his presence immediately straightening their posture and hiding their nervous shaking hands. And as much as Louis tried to change it and be more friendly around them, he knew he had the responsibility of being in such a position he was so graciously in and needed to be the one to establish authority in his section of the company.

Louis squeezed in, or maybe everybody moved around for him, as he stood by Niall in the now quiet lift. He turned around, taking a second to observe the horrified looking interns that stood behind him with a stern grin you'd give a staring stranger in the street. "Good afternoon."

They all asynchronously wished him back a "good afternoon" before he turned to his original position, facing towards to the doors.

"Thank god it's Friday, hm?" he said in a brighter tone, lightening the mood and making them all giggle and agree along courteously.

Louis shared a sneaky side-eyed glance over at Niall, who joyfully and gladly erupted into a loud cackle over the now optimistic murmur.

The lift chimed and cleanly slid open to revel the less frantic first floor. Business men and women in pristine fitting suits littered the marble floors and expensive leather furniture, all probably leaving or attending some career changing or threatening meeting.

Louis stepped out first, his Louis Vuitton shoe pressing against the floor and being the inadvertently loudest noise in the spacious lobby. He unconsciously walked quickly out the building, leaving Niall to catch up as fast as he could from behind.

"Running a marathon there mate?" Niall joked as Louis stepped out of the corporate office and onto the damp pavement, keeping his face down.

He picked up his head and narrowed his eyes at Niall as they continued walking, a grin barely prickling over his lips, "trying to avoid as many conversations as possible."

Niall laughed his usual, sometimes obnoxious, cackle as he followed Louis to the dark grey Porsche brought around by the valet. Other than the rain droplets that littered the exterior and would be dried off by Louis' own apartment valet later, the car was in immaculate condition.

As it should be. Louis had just purchased the luxury ride at the beginning of the year and fell in love with it the minute his eyes set on it. Of course he didn't really drive that much in London, considering he could easily pay for a taxi, but he still had it in storage for slow days he knew he'd need a dose of happiness or a quick feeling of the familiar adrenaline he got when he drove it. And who would want to get a cab in London during the end of a work day anyways? You could easily never hail one over for a good thirty minutes or end up doing something outrageous like fight over one with some crazy dressed citizen.

Louis laughed at something Niall joked about as he drove up some, one hand on the wheel as he sent his other one unconsciously through his cleanly styled hair, making it a bit more messy and natural. "How'd you get here anyways?" Louis asked after he settled down from his prolonged laugh, glancing over to Niall.

"Liam dropped me off on his way to some seminar. He's attending his uncle's motivational speech to uni kids about following their dreams and staying drug free," Niall spoke, Louis tossing his jacket into the back seat and removing his striped tie from around his neck.

Guilty pleasure pop music echoed softly through the speakers, playing the role of background music and contrasting against the car's masculine appeal and leather scent. Louis looked over to Niall again as they sat in the dawdling traffic, "how is the bloke?"

Niall looked up from his phone and met Louis' attentive eyes, "still not following his dreams and just smoked a massive, _massive_ joint." Niall immediately bursted into loud laughter, Louis giggling along as his eyes directed back to the finally moving traffic.

He continued driving until they got to the quaint bar, hidden within a strip of many other shops and restaurants just a few blocks down from Louis' office. As they both stepped onto the concrete sidewalk, they caught a large drift of air as a man running passed, chasing after a dog that was tugging along a leash. They both shared a look between each other before laughing and walking into the bar, filled with what seemed like more people than usual.

"£2.50 beers are all the rage on Fridays, hm?" Louis said to Niall as he followed him to the packed bar area. Niall laughed in agreement before luckily finding them two open seats between a biker man and a girl in what looked like a nurse uniform. 

They both ordered drinks before discussing a footie game that happened sometime during the week. "Fookin' horrible, I tell ya," Louis said as he took a long sip of his beer, pointing to the replay on the TV behind the bar. Niall giggled as Louis' eyes were glued to the commentators, explaining how bad the match was just as accurately as he just did to Niall.

"Aye mate! How are ya?" Louis heard Niall's voice speak boldly from besides him, dragging out the word "aye".

Louis' eyes darted besides him, then to the figure standing in front of now swiveled around Niall, Louis' lips still pressed on the sweating bottle's rim. He quickly noticed Niall was speaking to an old buddy of theirs from a big publicity and management agency in Los Angeles.

Of course when Liam went to the U.S. for his father's extended company launch, he brought along Niall and Louis strictly for business, even if they were all drunk and high before they even stepped foot off the private plane nonstop to LA. Louis, however, took somewhat advantage of the opportunity (when he wasn't wasted, hungover, or stoned of course) and associated with as many higher-up businessmen as he could while he was on the west coast, Jeff Azoff being one of them.

"Jeff! My man, how are 'ya?" Louis spoke confidently with the lost friend, slapping hands with the guy before giving him a firm handshake.

"Good, good! How about yourselves?" Jeff asked a little stiffly, holding his own cheap bottle in his hand. His brown hair was a bit messy like someone had ruffled it around, it flying in all directions but not seeming out of the ordinary for a customer of this bar's demographic.

"Great! Good! What are you doing out in London?" Niall asked energetically, friendly punching Jeff's shoulder.

Jeff playfully stumbled back a little as he chuckled, "here for some business. Visiting with some friends while I have the time."

"We do have to do a proper lunch soon, mate. Need to catch up," Louis offered out of common courtesy, motioning his hand towards Jeff before taking another sip of his beer.

"Yeah, yeah. I'm open for dinner anytime this week. I'm sure Glenne would love for me to not live off room service and get out for a night," Jeff chuckled before drinking from his own. He then was knocked back a few steps by an unapologetic asshole, the bloke bumping hard into his shoulder and continuing to walk pass without a care.

"C'mon!" Louis shouted at the guy, not even earning a look over the shoulder from him. Unfortunately, strangers who had no idea who the small man in the suit was tended to be less afraid of him. He undoubtedly always stood up for himself and others he cared about when he felt it was needed, even if he was little impact to the situation.

Jeff looked around at the even more crowded small space before turning back towards Louis and Niall with a chuckle, "hey, uh, me and a couple of friends are sitting over there in a booth somewhere's." He pointed towards the back corner of the place. "Why don't you guys come sit? They're all nice, I promise."

Louis glanced over to Niall, figuring he would be intelligent enough to look back so they could exchange quick looks between each other. But as Louis began to say, "I think we're quite fine", Niall interrupted by immediately saying sure and happily following Jeff halfway across the bar.

Louis groaned to himself as he followed a distance behind Niall and Jeff, who were chatting comfortably as they walked. Niall was the friendly guy who was optimistic 100% of the time. However, Louis felt as if being charismatic and relatively friendly was a chore on his part, considering he used it at his job 24/7.

He rolled up the sleeves to his white button up evenly as he wished Liam were here, walking up to the table and unintentionally being hidden behind Jeff and Niall's shielding bodies. Even though he hadn't spoken to Liam since the beginning of last month, his eyes gazed tiredly around the bar as he took another sip of his beer and thought about how if he was here, he'd joke around about how cheerful Niall was all the time or how the messily drunk girl at the bar still hasn't realized the bartender is gay yet.

"And this is Louis, Louis Tomlinson. One of the head honchos over at.." Jeff paused as Louis turned around, now exposed to the whole table of trendy styled, very indie looking younger people.

Louis smiled warmly and nodded, giving the guest at the table his fake business grin that said he didn't want to be there but most certainly had to, "Thomas George Corporation."

"The best goddamn head honcho out there!" Niall joked, throwing his arm around Louis' neck loosely and making everyone at the table chuckle at them.

Louis eyes were glued to his boots, giggling to himself as Jeff added, "and youngest!"

"Well sit down lads, we have enough room for the two of 'ya!" a quiffed haired guy spoke joyfully. Niall immediately jumped to the offer, sitting into the booth next to the guy and leaving Jeff to scoot into the remaining space left besides them.

"Mind if I sit here?" Louis pointed to the open space besides an unnaturally blonde woman, straight across the table from Jeff and Niall. She was undoubtedly drunk and had mascara marks running down her cheeks, leaving Louis to groan in his head again at what was to come.

"Go head," she said lazily, scooting farther away from Louis and closer to the hidden figure besides her. Louis sat down and wiggled on his bum, trying to get as comfortable as possible as he knew Niall would never want to leave a group of friendly Londoners.

His eyes gazed down on his drink for the second time this afternoon, watching as a sweat rolled down the side of the bottle and how the drink inside of it was a tad bit more closer to the top than the others'.

"Do you think he knows Christian Grey?" he heard a cracked voice ask quietly from his side, everyone else around them chatting unknowingly.

Louis tucked his head between his arms that extended from his flattened out hands on the table before him and chuckled lightly at the comment. He picked his head up and tilted it, still laughing as he noticed the blonde was now resting her head on the shoulder of someone. Someone who caught Louis' eye, leaving him to ask himself how he missed such a strikingly bright face in the first place.

The boy was staring at Louis with a light pink lipped, closed-mouthed grin as he undoubtedly tried to hold back laughs at the girl's comment while simultaneously trying to be as polite as possible.

Louis narrowed his eyes and pressed his tongue softly against the inside of his cheek, trying to hold back a wide grin as he looked back towards the girl, "never met him. Heard he's quite the asshole."

"Heard a lot about him and asshole," a deeper voice than expected spoke from above her, making Louis' eyes travel to meet back with boy's once again. The girl began to cackle loudly into the guy's cream and what looked like pink printed shirt, buttoned to where it revealed a bit of his cleanly shaven chest and his nipples.

Louis smiled brightly as he chuckled along, making the boy blink slowly and hold back his own laugh behind the quickly familiar grin. Louis' eyes ran along the boy's distinctly high cheekbones, visible admits his chestnut-colored waves and tan skin that an everyday citizen defiantly would not get in London.

"Tommo!" Niall's voice echoed, breaking Louis' unintentional stare, "Jeff says he'd take us back to LA just to party again!"

Louis laughed his usual, punctuated laugh before replying, "I remember those trips like they were yesterday."

"We really should! We've got to get you two and Liam back to LA. So we could have a real boys night again," Jeff spoke matter-of-factly before taking a sip of his beer.

"I don't know. I'm still recovering from that one time," Louis said, motioning a hand to them as they laughed along.

"Liam! Was it Liam who threw the unopened bottle of $900 vodka off the balcony in Vegas?" Jeff laughed, continuing the conversation.

"No, no. I think that was me!" Niall cackled even harder from besides him, removing the beer bottle away from his mouth.

They all three chuckled along at the memories of the ridiculous but limited times they spent together. The unnamed quiff dude next to them laughed along intoxicatingly, "I gotta party with you guys."

"No, it was Liam who thought the chinchilla blanket was an actual kitten!" Jeff chuckled before taking another swig of beer.

"He was petting it and all!" Niall laughed along, causing the table to erupt in chuckles too.

Niall then began to talk to the group of people sitting next to him, Louis attempting to join in but before he could, he felt a thud against his shoulder. The blonde was now drunkenly leaning against him, and it sounded as if she was sobbing into his _very_ expensive suit.

Louis' eyes looked up from the top of her untouched roots to meet with the guy's eyes again, them now filling with more apologetic tones.

The boy's eyes fascinated Louis as he couldn't remove his own from them, almost like they were communicating with Louis and he understood everything they were trying to express 100%. They were filled with ranges of dark and soft emerald colors with pangs of gold and telling admiration for the simplest things. They seemed to be the perfect color of iridescent green, if that made any sense to Louis. 

"Her boyfriend just broke up with her," the boy whispered as his mouth moved along slowly, even though she could most likely still hear them. Louis looked back down at her once again before rubbing his hand on her back, making her cry harder at the boy's words.

"Hey, it's- it's okay. My boyfriend just broke up with me too," Louis spoke in the most comforting tone as possible for this most definitely awkward situation.

She rubbed her face against his suit, making him cringe at the fact that he's probably going to have to throw it out later. She sat up straight slowly, rubbing the back of her hands across her red, damp eyes, "really?"

"Yep. Well, kind of recently. On Valentine's Day," he said casually as he continued to rub his hand in circles on her back. No one else at the table seemed to be phased by their silent conversation or the poor girl sobbing.

"Oh, God. I'm sorry, that must've hurt," she said more calmly, dabbing her fingers under her eyes and sniffing.

"Yeah. Bastard doesn't know what he's missin', huh?" Louis joked, strategically leaving the sentence open to apply to either one of them.

The girl giggled the best she could between sniffles before speaking in various, random volumes, "I'm Bethany. And a wreck." She then fell backwards onto the long locked boy next to her, giggling.

"Oh!" she sat up straight as if she had just realized something extremely important, looking over to her human pillow then to Louis with furrowed eyebrows. "Have you met Harry?"

Louis looked over to the boy, now presumably named Harry, as they both shared friendly grins. "I'm Harry. Styles. Harry Styles, " he fumbled with his words, moving his hand to where Louis could shake it.

"Louis," he replied warmly, shaking Harry's hand and being ever so mindful to not squeeze the living day lights out of him. Harry's hands were much larger than Louis', yet they were soft and felt as if they reassured comfort instead of the natural overpowering sense of handshakes.

His long fingers were decorated with jewelry Louis expected on a king. He also quickly noticed bits of red fingernail polish chipped nearly all the way off as Harry's hands moved further and further away to his lap.

"He's gay! And single too!" Bethany said more happily, meaning for it to be harmless and fun before she took a sip of her fruity drink. Louis raised his eyebrows and let out a chuckle at the very straightforward information. Harry just hid his face into his cup, not looking over at Louis or Bethany.

Louis giggled awkwardly, unfortunately he vowed to himself a while ago that he wasn't looking for a relationship or anything related to that topic anytime soon, even if a cute guy with jewels for eyes was interested in being his temporary dose of satisfaction for a night.

"I'm afraid I'm speaking to someone, love," Louis lied quietly to Bethany, making up an excuse to try and not get pulled into any more awkward setups that he most certainly never consented to. He had unwillingly been set up with loads of different people since the breakup, Louis finding it hard to find any interest of any of the suitors. It was usually Niall's friends or friends of friends, all ending horribly, like the one where Louis accidentally spilled red wine all over a cheesy yet stomach-achingly expensive white rental suit. He never really wanted to be at any of them, yet doing so because he knew his family and friends were all concerned greatly for him and his emotional stability.

"That's okay! Old Harold here is use to quickies and one night-" Bethany began to say causally before Harry interrupted loudly.

"Alright! That's enough, hm? Why don't we go get you some water at the bar," he said before Louis moved himself out from the way. He giggled lightheartedly as Harry basically pushed the blonde out the booth and all the way to the bar, avoiding any eye-contact with Louis. As Louis sat back down, Niall's thundering laughter was taking over the table once again.

"And then Louis over here said he lost his dog!" Jeff said, making the table cackle. Louis giggled along, quickly catching onto the story they were telling the group of friends. The group was filled with three other people: a brunette in a horizontally striped tee, a ginger guy, and a dark haired lad. Louis took another quick sip of his beer before chuckling along at Jeff telling a story from ages ago.

"No, no! Then she asked if she had seen us somewhere's!" Louis corrected Jeff in his loud voice, making every one at the table chuckle.

"You guys really have some stories," the brunette laughed before taking a sip of her clear alcoholic drink.

"Seems like we'll all have to join you one day," the ginger guy added with a laugh. Louis grinned a warm, crinkly eyed smile and nodded along as Niall began to say how he didn't even share the story about the golfing trip that ended up with them crashing a beach wedding.

Louis smirked and nodded to verify certain things as Niall shared the story, staying silent most the time as he finished his beer. His eyes roamed down his glass, noticing there was little to none left and how Niall's story had been going for forever but wasn't even close to ending.

Considering for half the story Louis was somewhere's inside the building filling out forms, he decided to nudge into the conversation, "I hate to interrupt but I'm gonna go grab another beer. Anybody want anything?" He only gained the attention of Jeff, the others all intrigued in Niall's conclusion-less story.

"I'll come with you," Jeff replied quietly before scooting out of the rounded booth, Louis mimicking the action.

Jeff joined his side as they walked to the packed bar area, "you'd think Tom Cruise was serving £2.50 beers and £1 shots." Louis chuckled as they squeezed through to a spot on the bar, both asking for another beer. He now occupied a cold, steel stool as Jeff rested against the bar besides him.

"So, speaking of Liam," Jeff sighed, "when's the last time you've seen the guy?" he asked as he grabbed both the beers from the bartender and handed one over to Louis.

"Uh, since the beginning of March? I think he needed restaurant recommendation in Sydeny. He's busy, and trust me, I understand that," Louis said before looking away and taking a long sip of the fresh beer.

"Well, I'm glad he's not mad about, you know. Kind of shitty for him to take sides so... harshly," Jeff spoke in a descending volume, gazing aimlessly at something behind Louis. Louis hummed in response as he continued to take the long, needed sip of beer, not wanting to take the conversation any further than the silence it had came to. "You know, I saw Zayn in LA. He's doing good. He's got a big art exhibit at this new, trendy museum thing," Jeff waved his hand, making Louis' eyes dart away to waiter across the bar as the conversation had ran right into the place he didn't want it to go.

"That's good," Louis replied quietly. He was leaving his comments and thoughts on the topic at that.

Jeff sighed exaggeratedly before they both took another sip of their drinks. He pointed to something in the distance behind Louis before saying fondly, "look at Styles. Probably the nicest guy I know."

Louis turned around, looking around the bar before noticing Harry. He was helping a waitress clean up a spilt mess as Bethany sloppily kissed some stranger on a nearby stool. As Harry bent down, his shirt reveled his full chest, a detailed tattoo of something barely reveling itself on his right side and a few other small ones becoming apparent from his open blouse.

"You've met him right?" Jeff asked as Louis turned back around, meeting with his now curious eyes.

"Uh, yeah. His name is Harry, right?" Louis asked casually in response, taking another sip of his beer. Jeff nodded as he watched a group of young people pass by, his eyes following them before shaking his head.

"So. How's, uh, Glenne? She's alright?" Louis asked, squinting his eyes a bit.

Jeff giggled breathlessly, "yeah. She's at dinner right now with friends. So I figured why not go do something with mine." Louis nodded as he took a sip, his eyes going back over to the table of chatty people and even more chattier Niall.

Suddenly, there was a booming crash of what sounded glass breaking from behind himself, making him jump a little bit at the apparent loud noise. He turned to face towards it, looking at what everyone else in the bar was now glancing over at.

A biker guy was now shouting at the drunk hipster looking guy, who was just making out with Bethany. Noticeably, his mouth area was covered in red stains that matched Bethany's lipstick color. And, of course, Bethany was trying to hold him back as somewhat civilized looking Harry attempted to hold her back from the possible brawl while also trying to protect the waitress trying to stop it.

Jeff began to jog over, immediately taking Bethany to the side, away from the mess and hidden into the forming crowd. Harry then gave his full attention to the waitress, who looked horrified and tried to settle her down as calmly as possible on the side.

Louis began to walk over, curious as he sipped his beer and furrowed his eyebrows at the shouting between the two men and how it only grew louder and angrier. Louis pushed as politely but as urgent as he could through the forming crowd, looking around for Jeff to help him with frustratingly resistant Bethany, but only finding himself standing right next to Harry and behind the hipster guy.

"YOU DON'T FUCKIN' CALL ME THAT!" the aggressive biker hollered as a bunch of much younger workers tried to stop him while also trying to push away the crowd. No one was listening to them and everyone's phones were now on the two drunken men slurring curse words and threats to each other and innocent bystanders. Even the buff-est bartender couldn't stop the large biker before his eyes wandered over to the waitress, who Harry was hugging comfortingly.

"Are you gonna clean this mess up you fuckin' bitch?" he growled rudely as he referred to the shattered glass and split alcohol, making Louis furrow his eyebrows hard and push the last button he had.

"Listen mate," Harry began to say in a very calmly manner but was overshadowed by Louis saying the loudest he could, "listen here mate."

"What are you gonna do to me? Trying to save your fag 'ittle boyfriend and whore of a slave?" he slurred as the hipster guy moved to the side and reveled Louis much tinier self.

Louis eyes grew wide at how much bigger the bloke was then him up close. And also how tight his tattooed knuckles where clenched into fists.

But Louis always stood his ground. "Why do asswipes like you even exist?" Louis said between his teeth, daring to say it but gaining confidence as he continued. Louis turned towards the crowd and threw his hands up with disgust as everyone grew quieter. "You're literally the most cliche, judgmental, drunken bar biker who has nothing better to do than sit on your arse and waste your life away on £2 fooking beer! And probably eat shitty nachos that'll just eventually be muscle thanks to your big fooking steroids addiction! I can't stand people like you ignorant arsehole!" Louis yelled angrily, the crowd beginning to cheer in agreement before turning back around to face the biker.

And before he even knew he was turned completely around, the man's fist quickly collided with his face and his vision to go completely black.

 

_******* _

 

Louis' eyes lazily opened, his right eye sending an excruciating pain through his entire body. He groaned unintentionally loud and closed both of them back, barely even noticing his position laying down in a curled up, sleeping-like posture.

Louis groaned softer as he opened his less sore, left eye and closed it, sitting up in a straight position and rubbing his forehead. He kept his eyes closed and lightly touched his swollen right one, receiving a bruised feeling.

"Fuck," he muttered, opening his left eye fully and attempting to open his right again, but failing as it shut immediately with pain. When he shut his right eye, both eyes shut in response, his blurry vision before that adding to his dizziness and confusion.

"Oh, here," a seemingly angelic, quiet-toned voice from the side of him said, placing a very cold item as gently as possible against his eye. Louis took the ice-pack into his hand, accidentally brushing his fingers and palm against the voice's own. He turned towards it, his left eye completely open, the light of room stinging it a little. Sitting besides him, the voice now with a name: Harry.

He looked away from Harry's warming grin before looking around with his one eye, realizing he was in the familiar tan, brown, and off white color schemed living-room. His beige couches began to come into sight underneath him along with the large television set up straight across the room, over the rectangular shaped fireplace built into the wall. Voices filled the now recognizable dining and kitchen area nearby, making him turn back to Harry, who was still smiling kindly.

Louis quickly put the pieces together, looking a bit frantically back to to the kitchen then to Harry again. "I'm on ice duty," Harry said softly with a shrug of his shoulders and a sweet giggle. Louis' curious eyes wandered their way to the tele, playing an episode of _The Real Housewives of Cheshire_.

"How- how long have I been knocked out?" he asked in a groggy voice, as if he had slept through an entire week.

"Well, um, you woke up a couple seconds after being... hit. Oh, and the hitchhiker looking guy that Bethany was snogging, yeah? He's in medical school and told us to give you some medicine to knock you out for the pain. So we did and we brought you home and we got here only like a couple of hours ago. You must not remember," he said all very slow for Louis to take in, or so Louis assumed. Harry gave an apologetic smirk after the explanation, his lips forming what Louis thought the warm feeling of comfort would look like personified.

Louis jaw was dropped however, nearly speechless and trying to endure all this news of the somewhat blurry events he couldn't quite remember. "So... you listened to a drunk hippie and gave me drugs to knock me, ouch," he muttered the last part quietly as his eye twitched in pain under the bag of ice.

"Oh, here," Harry's hand pressed gently on top of Louis', holding the ice-pack more firm before fixing the towel that wrapped around it. Harry removed his larger hand, Louis' jaw still unintentionally gaped open yet now more out of the straight frustration of the entire deal.

"I can't believe this," Louis muttered, looking away from Harry's soft facial features and to the fuzzy rug that laid between them and the television. It grew silent, the only noise being the show and the guest in the kitchen conversing.

"How- how did I get here, may I ask? Where is my car?" Louis spoke way more frantically, looking over to Harry while still holding the ice pack stiffly to his face. If he was thinking about anything properly right now, it positively was going to be about his baby.

Harry's eyebrows raised as he chuckled softly at how goofy Louis looked. "I'm serious," Louis said, being able to only raise the left eyebrow.

Harry shook his head at his lap and giggled, "that Niall guy drove."

"Are you fookin' kidding me?" Louis said in disbelief as Harry nodded his head along. "Niall, as in, Niall Horan? Who in gods right bloody mind allowed Niall Horan to drive _my_ luxury car! You're joking right? I think I'm gonna be unconscious again," he sighed, abruptly falling against the back of the couch and looking up at the ceiling.

Harry chuckled lightly, "Jeff's idea."

Louis groaned before muttering to himself, "I can't believe this."

It grew quiet again, the background noise mixing together with his now chaotic thoughts and a minor headache. As his head laid against the couch, he rolled it over from the ceiling to see Harry giggling at him fondly. A smile crept across Louis' lips, "it's not funny."

This made Harry hide his face in his hands and continue to laugh, "but it is."

Louis shook his head and bit the inside of his cheek to hold back a wide smile, facing back up to the ceiling while holding the ice pack to his eye. Louis wanted to be in his bed right now, causing him to close his eye and inhale slowly. Something fell and hit the hard wood floor loudly, causing Louis to barely open his one eye and squint over to Harry.

He was bent over, nearly in half, as he reached for his fallen, new looking iPhone laying face down on the floor. His expensive looking shirt was up so slightly that it showed Louis his tan skin and Calvin Klein waistband escaping from his tight, black jeans.

"Hey, uh, thanks. For standing up for me, and the waitress. Even though you got a little... battle scar," Harry said softly as he sat back up, examining his phone screen that now had two, long cracks going from the top corner to the middle of the other side of the screen. Harry's eyes traveled from Louis' chest to meet his eyes, Louis furrowing his eyebrows the best he could.

"You just did that?" he asked, pointing down to Harry's phone.

Harry looked from Louis' eyes and down to his phone with his eyebrows raised in surprise, "oh! Uh, yeah, I guess. It's, um, ok."

"You sure? You don't seem too surprised," Louis giggled, still pointing to it and now holding his ice-pack loosely to his eye.

Harry chuckled softly, "it's- it's ok. I'm clumsy, it was only a matter of time." Harry ran his thumb over the crack slowly, staring down at it.

"I kind of feel guilty," Louis giggled, leaning forward now to match Harry's position.

"Why?" Harry laughed, glancing from his phone and over to Louis.

"Well, it fell on my floor, off my couch. You wouldn't even be in this position if it wasn't for me. I feel bad and the least I could do would be to buy you a new one, if you'd like," Louis said honestly, hunched over and holding the ice-pack still to his face. God knew he had the money to.

"Don't be silly. I can take care of it, it's just the screen," Harry giggled silently before fixing the towel softly under Louis fingers again, ignoring Louis watching him and letting a grin prickle his lips. It was quiet as Harry returned back to his original position, Louis sitting in pain and awe that someone rejected his offer to buy them such an everyday privileged item.

"If you say so. But the offer still stands and will continue to. And you're welcome... for ya know, standing up for you," Louis muttered, looking away from Harry and letting his eyes meet the reality tv show. "But what is this? You come into me home and play this shit after all I did for you?" Louis joked, motioning a hand out towards the tele.

Harry laughed loud and genuinely, leaning forward a bit as he laughed, "sorry."

The group in the kitchen interrupted their exchange, busting into loud cackling and making Louis furrow his eyebrows at them, looking over to Harry. "What are they doing?" he asked, scratching his now even more ruffled hair.

"Uh, we decided to trade off duties of watching you. And... let's just say they all found your liquor stash and forgot about the switching out aspect," Harry said, bobbing his foot as his slim leg was crossed over the other.

"Well, I'm perfectly fine by me-self now. You can go," he motioned his hand to the kitchen, "go enjoy whatever drink you desire."

Harry giggled and shook his head, tilting it and letting his long hair fall that way a bit as he spoke, "I like taking care of people annddd reality television cat-fights on very high definition settings."

Louis chuckled lightly along with Harry, "that's why it's there. Well, not for shit reality TV but mostly footie and the occasional action movie."

"Action movie? You're sure you don't mean chick flick?" Harry said with a cocked eyebrow.

Louis held back an embarrassing large smile behind a grin before clarifying with his own cocked eyebrow, "I mean action movie."

Harry wavered his head from side to side as he giggled, "I may or may not have taken a look on your Netflix too." Harry sent a hand through the back of his hair, laughing as Louis made duck lips in attempt to hold back a defeated laugh. Harry closed his eyes slowly, giggling along as Louis hid his face behind his free hand that wasn't holding the ice-pack.

"Listen. Every man can have their lonely Dirty Dancing Friday nights," Louis said jokingly, making Harry cackle even louder.

"Yeah, but only if it consists of you and your cat attempting doing the lift move for the rest of the night," Harry said with a large, dimpled grin, pointing a finger jokingly.

"I don't have a pet," Louis laughed before continuing even louder, "and you say that as if the cats willing!" They both began to chuckle, Harry even leaning forward a bit into his funnily amusing laugh.

As they both calmed down, Louis removed the ice-pack and set it down in his now crossed lap, palming over his closed, swollen eyes. He stared down at the pack before removing his hand and looking over to Harry, who was making a face as if he was seeing something risky.

"It's that bad?" Louis asked before continuing to lightly tap his fingers over the bruises. Harry still clenched his teeth as he nodded, keeping his eyes glued to puffy wound.

Harry tilted his head as Louis attempted to open his eye halfway. "It's not too bad. Just a little purple and yellow. No blood in the eye, so that's good. At least that's what the hipster guy incoherently told Jeff," Harry giggled, gaining a huff of a sarcastic giggle from Louis.

"What happened to the asshole anyways?" Louis spoke softer, looking down at his lap and opening his right eye all the way before shutting it in pain.

"Well he was thrown out and the police were called. He left before they showed up though. On his motorcycle," Harry's voice spoke softly.

"Fookin' loozah," Louis muttered in reply, shaking his head disapprovingly at his lap.

Harry chuckled lightly, "you're from Yorkshire, Doncaster, is it?"

Louis looked up from his lap and over to meet eyes with Harry. He furrowed both his eyebrows at him before asking curiously, "how did you?"

"Sorry, uh, I had a," Harry looked like a deer in the headlights as he stopped speaking, holding his bottom lip gently between his index finger and thumb before saying, "good friend from Doncaster. I can recognize an accent when I hear one."

"Oh," Louis chuckled, "well that's nice. And yes, I am." Harry nodded with a huge grin before looking back over to the tele.

"So you work for TGB? That must be cool. Broadcasting to the whole UK and all," Harry said before they both met eyes again.

Louis chuckled, "uh, yeah. But what I do is strictly financial. I don't really get into the actual broadcasting aspect of things."

"Oh. So you aren't that important," Harry said jokingly yet in a very serious tone, making Louis furrow his eyebrows even harsher and make his right eye hurt.

"No, I'm pretty important. Secondhand man to the head of the whole financial department, I'd call that pretty important."

Harry chuckled, "'m just joking. And wow, you must be dealing with a lot of pounds, huh?"

Louis narrowed his eyes at him the best he could after seconds of hesitation, "why do you want to know so much about me? And why am I telling you?"

"I'm just that kind of person. Got to know everything about everything," Harry said with a shrug of his shoulders, his mouth smiling brightly as his deep dimples became evident again, making Louis only imagine the things he probably gets away with thanks to those. 

"Well then, what do you do? Since you're done investigating me," Louis spoke, chuckling as he put the ice-pack back to his right eye. He watched Harry pucker his lips at the TV, hesitating for a minute before turning back to Louis' direction.

"I'm a singer," he said matter-of-factly, blinking slowly and hiding back a humorous smile.

Louis raised his eyebrows before repeating, "a singer?" Harry nodded, now biting his bottom lip to hold back the grin that he was doing so terribly at. "So, this is what this is about. You want me to try and get you on, don't you?" Louis asked, cocking his left eyebrow and pressing the pack closer to his face.

"No, no. I didn't- no. You asked me what I did! I'm telling you," Harry said, getting very defensive and making Louis chuckle at his flustered-ness.

"It's ok. I'm _joking_."

Harry's face softened and grinned, giggling a bit even at himself. "That must not be an easy field to be in, hm? How must you say afloat?" Louis asked, his eyes traveling to the very expensive shirt, boots, and jewelry Harry was displaying.

"Well, amongst other things," he said, wavering his head from side to side before straightening it up.

"Other things?" Louis repeated with a now curiously cocked eyebrow.

"Yep," Harry said, popping the P and turning his attention back to the television. Louis looked towards it too, not wanting for this conversation to take a turn for the worse or get too deep with this newly acquainted friend.

"I don't understand it," Louis said, watching the women on tv bicker.

Harry looked over to him with a faint smile, "entertainment. You should know about that, hm?"

"For the last time, I am not in the broadcasting department!" Louis chuckled, making Harry giggle too.

After a few moments of quietness, Harry stood up from the couch, him tugging at his shirt to stay down before he began walking in a hypnotizing way. Louis eyes got lost in it, in a platonic way of course, not helping but to admire every slight move of a muscle Harry's body made as he walked to the wall to floor window behind the tele. Harry stood there, outlined with the glow from the city around them as his eyes admired things like the look of the close together buildings or the ant-looking people so far beneath him.

"This is a great view," Harry said, looking over his shoulder and back to Louis. He faced back to the window, Louis getting up from the couch ever so slowly and walking sluggishly to the open space besides Harry.

"Better be a good view, for what this place cost," Louis spoke, now getting his taste of overlooking the lighted streets of London and the overwhelming feeling of how their stories being held captive below were so tempting to seek.

Harry glanced over to him with a teasing grin, "you do like bragging about your luxury items, hm?"

Louis rolled his eyes with a defeated grin trying to escape onto his lips, "things are expensive and I literally work with wealth all day. I know how fast you can lose it or gain it."

"Well then, that makes you a smart man. Very appreciative it seems," Harry said, looking back out the glass and down at the sidewalk beneath.

"You are very observant," Louis chuckled lightly, turning away from the window and earning a quiet giggle from Harry.

"Guess that's my forte," he heard Harry say as he began to walk back to the couch, removing the ice-pack from his eye once again. He sat down, being very self-aware to relax his right eye shut.

"Or I checked your bank account," Harry drug out the "or"  and turned around with his hands leisurely placed on his curvy hips. Louis' jaw clenched and right eye attempted to open in disbelief, leaving him to close both eyes abruptly while also being prepared to kick Harry out his house and call the police. Yet before he could, Harry bursted into laughter at himself, "I'm just joking, I'm sorry, I'm sorry."

Louis giggled with caution as Harry found his way back to the couch. "So you have no pets? How do you hold yourself together, hm?" Harry asked, even bending down and clapping his hands quietly to see if something would run up to him.

"You might be here a while if you're expecting something. I'm not much of an animal person," Louis joked as Harry sat back up straight. Harry giggled, shaking his head of hair at his lap and fixing it. Louis reached for his ice-pack wrapped in its towel, placing it very softly onto his eye.

"You must be an animal person then, I'm guessing. Snow White must have his birds and deers all cooped up at home, huh?" Louis said slyly, causing Harry to laugh very hard. Louis giggled along with Harry's goofy yet entertaining cackle.

"Actually," Harry said between settling giggles, "I have one cat. She's fat, fluffy, and grey. And named Fitz."

"Fitz?" Louis repeated, scratching a hard to reach inch on the back of his head. Harry bit his bottom lip, smiling too hard and giggling like a schoolgirl. "What?" Louis chuckled out curiously.

"Fitz as in F. Scott Fitz-feral," Harry said quietly.

Louis bursted into a loud cackle as he repeated, "F. Scott Fitz- _feral_." Harry hid his face in his hands as his body moved, signifying he was even laughing at himself. 

As they both calmed down and giggled lightly, Harry picked his face out of his hands, his cheeks the color of spring roses as Louis repeated to himself matter-of-factly, "F. Scott Fitz-feral."

"She was a stray that always roamed around on my fire escape. So I took her in and now she comes and goes as she pleases. But most of the time enjoys my company, I'd like to think," Harry giggled quietly.

Louis nodded along to Harry's story until asking, "and for the name?"

Harry giggled lightly before removing his eyes from Louis and looking towards the window, "I was reading The Great Gatsby. I wasn't going to name her anything like Daisy, well because-" he stopped. The large smile that formed across his face the entire time he had been speaking to Louis, fell. He swallowed hard and looked back towards Louis, "well, because I didn't like it. And then I thought about the author and quite liked the name Fitz so I came up with something clever." Harry gave Louis a small smile, leaving Louis to smile back but be quite conscious as to the noticeable mood change.

Louis sighed, attempting to brighten the mood, "well, I'm quite disappointed you didn't name her Jay Catsby, to be honest." Harry began to chuckle, the familiar smile and laugh appearing back on his face thanks to Louis' comment, making him grin down to his lap and slightly lick his lips.

"I suppose so. Fitz doesn't really like literature anyways. She rips up all my books and likes to just lay there in the piles of crumpled paper," Harry said, shrugging his shoulders and giggling.

"Really?" Louis laughed, earning a nod "yes" and giggle from Harry.

"So, where _must_ Mick Jagger live, hm? I'm guessing not in an apartment in the sky above London?" Louis asked jokingly after a bit of settling silence, sitting criss-cross with his legs again and keeping the ice-pack close to his face.

Harry laughed, finding the part where Louis called him Mick Jagger absolutely hilarious before saying, "you're right. I don't live in anything nearly as privileged as this."

Louis chuckled lightly, "it mustn't be that bad. Considering how you dress in clothes that are even more luxurious than mine."

Harry looked away, his hands squeezed behind his thighs as he hesitated for a moment in obvious defeat. He turned his head back towards him and blinked slowly, his lips attempting to form a grin, "my apartment is nowhere's near as luxurious as I seem to you."

A small smile crept onto Louis' lips, hesitation and blank silence filling the air between them. "You are quite the Audrey Hepburn, hm?"

Harry furrowed his eyebrows at him with a wild grin, "what?"

"Breakfast at Tiffany's," Louis clarified, as if Harry should've caught onto it immediately. "Stray cats, unfortunate apartments, a struggling to make money in a big city. All while dressing and living," Louis motioned a hand up and down to Harry's outfit, "like this."

A wide, revealing smile spread across Harry's lips as he leaned forward and giggled a bit.

"What?" Louis asked quietly, letting his hands fall to his lap.

"So you do watch chick-flicks!" Harry said between soft giggles. Louis rolled his eyes and groaned loudly, laughing at himself as Harry chuckled along.

"You caught me," Louis admitted quietly as he giggled, Harry wiping underneath his eyes from laughing so hard.

It grew silent between them after the fits of laughter they shared.

"I'm not struggling though," Harry clarified as he looked down at his lap, the recent smile on his lips still there yet so faded. Louis mouth moved to the left side of his face, he didn't mean it to sound so harsh. "I told you, I manage to stay afloat," Harry's eyes met Louis' before falling to his lips then over to the opposing window.

"Yeah, I'm sorry. I didn't- I didn't mean it like that," Louis said, biting down onto his bottom lip.

"I should-" Harry began but was overshadowed by Louis asking boldly, "I'm going to go grab a well deserved drink, want to come along?"

Harry nodded, a small grin appearing onto his lips before they both stood up. Louis removed his ice-pack and began to walk to the kitchen, Harry following closely behind thanks to the unfamiliar surroundings. He then continued walking to the kitchen just around the corner before finding himself in what looked like a natural disaster site. Everything from his cheap guilty pleasure vodka to his bag of healthy crisps were open and spilled every where's. He noticed nobody was in here, as if the tornado that came through took them out with it.

"You've got to be fookin' joking," he muttered as Harry joined his side, giggling at how messy the kitchen was.

"Looks like they had fun," Harry exclaimed, walking over to the liquor cabinet where they so graciously put back an almost empty bottle of rum.

Louis began to pick up split crisps from the island and put them into the nearby bin, shaking his head as he did so. "I was just speaking about how I watch my pounds and now I'm going to have to go out and spend a shit ton trying to get back all this food and alcohol," he said, legitimately losing his temper at the current state of the room.

"It's okay, you didn't really have much anyways," Harry said, bent down as his arse rested up against his perched upwards heels. Louis turned around to face him, looking down and being greeted by Harry looking up towards him with a cheeky smile. Louis' stern face broke into a grin, shaking his head and turning back around to the counter.

"I'm just being honest!" he heard Harry say, him nearly stopping blood flow to his bottom lip by biting down on it so hard.

Louis began to pick up some of the mess, placing his ice-pack in the freezer and being careful to keep his eye shut this time. He excused himself to the bathroom, examining his eye while in there and getting it and keeping it open with minimum pain.

He returned to the room, both eyes barely open now as he continued to clean up. Harry joined Louis side soon after, rolling the bag of crisps down and clipping it, kicking the wide fridge door shut behind them with his foot. Louis threw away the last handful of left out crisps into the bin, "uh, you can just leave them out. I'll put everything back up later."

"You don't have to help," Louis continued quieter, walking over to the sink and picking up a paper towel roll next to it. He then walked to the spilled liquid mess of god knows what and began cleaning it up.

"No, it's okay. I like helping people, remember?" Harry smirked to him before disappearing into the pantry with a package of half eaten biscuits.

"I think you've done quite enough for me tonight though," Louis chuckled as he tore another sheet off in attempt to absorb and capture the mystery liquid. He turned to the pantry and smiled widely as Harry walked out, "what? So you can snoop some more?"

Harry giggled as he walked with his head facing down towards his brown boots, "no. Just... helping." He used his hand to scoop some crumbs off the counter and into his other hand, Louis chuckling to himself as he threw them away.

"Oh, I never asked. How was, uh, Britney?" Louis asked as he walked over to the fridge and grabbed a single, half drank Evian bottle out of it.

"Bethany?" Harry corrected him, cocking an eyebrow as Louis made his way back to the cleaned island.

"Yeah, Bethany."

"Um, good, I guess. Took the hipster lad home and now they're in your guest bedroom," Harry said as he used a paper towel to wipe a random spot of water.

Louis groaned loudly and exaggeratedly, "I can't get a rest, can I?" Which made Harry laugh loudly as he threw away the paper towel. "I mean these people are gonna make me spend a fortune! Now I'm going to have to buy an entire new bed set for that room," Louis sighed, not knowing how his night could possibly get any worse. Harry giggled, making Louis lift his head and display a cheeky smirk, "it's not funny."

"Of course not!" Harry said as he continued to chuckle, retrieving his spot on the opposite side of the island as Louis.

Louis smiled into his bottle as he took a sip of his water, raising his eyebrows at Harry as he did. Harry smiled before walking around the counter and towards Louis.

Louis' mind quickly rushed to the worst of all places before Harry brushed past him with a playful smirk. He opened the fridge from behind Louis, breaking his naturally flirty eye contact that Louis was most definitely hesitant about replying to, "if it's okay," he asked as he grabbed an Evian, smirking back again to Louis as they each bent their backs to look at each other.

"Yeah, of course. Should've offered you one, huh?" he chuckled back awkwardly.

Harry made his way to the other side of the counter, slow and steady before Louis realized where the rest of the group probably disappeared off to. And that the pounding music coming from outside probably wasn't the hip, new club a couple streets over. 

Niall's absolute favorite place in Louis' loft was the large balcony that connected outside of Louis' entertainment room. The entertainment room and balcony was renown to Louis' friends, basically their version of a lads trip that never had to leave the comfort of London. It could serve as a place to hang before or after a guys night out, a party room when Louis use to throw get-togethers, a conversation piece to business partners, or the balcony even being large enough to serve as a campground over the city with a fireplace and comfortable seating placed around it.

"Uh, should we go find the messy hooligans? I have a feeling that they may be a _little_ drunk near a dangerously far drop," Louis giggled nervously, standing up straight from his hunched over the counter position. Harry nodded with a grin before following Louis once again.

Harry followed him into a purposely dim-lighted hallway, Louis leading the way like a courageous toddler. "Oh," Louis said from in front before his tiny figure disappeared into a dark room that didn't look like somewhere's a bunch of drunks would be.

As he waited, Harry's eyes ran across the framed black and white pictures hanging neatly on the wall, examining them with his arms folded delicately across his chest. A picture a large family during what looked like Christmas caught his eye, Harry smiling to himself at how Louis seemed to be one of many in it to be caught off guard while others smiled and posed goofily. His eyes roamed to the picture on the side of it, a selfie of silly cross-eyed Louis and a raven haired lad, who was kissing his cheek.

Abruptly, Harry's eyes were torn away by Louis slamming the door shut besides him. "Oops," Louis said, as he was not meaning to close it that hard. "Sorry about that. I left the window in that room open on accident. Wouldn't need any stray cats coming in," Louis giggled, making Harry smile and nod.

He followed the smaller shadow through the hallway, all the way to the open room that didn't exactly match the distinctive aesthetic of the rest of the house. As they walked into the bright room, Harry began to giggle, making Louis look back towards him.

Posters of old movies and nostalgia covered the walls. People of all types, ranging from things like an Elvis Presley movie poster to a signed David Beckham jersey framed and placed cleanly on a wall near some trophies and framed awards. A bar displaying all types of mugs from around the world sat next to a pair of sliding glass doors on the other side of the room. 

"What? You don't like my super hero statues?" Louis asked jokingly, noticing Harry's hard to read facial expression as he slowed his fast paced walk towards the crouching Spider Man statue. "I've got this one as a gift. From Marvel Studios."

"You didn't exactly rub off as a geek to me at first, but now that I've seen your Spider-Man and Iron Man statues, you may just be considered a nerd, Louis Tomlinson," Harry chuckled, walking past him and rubbing the Iron Man's bicep.

Louis giggled, "I just like the movies. Plus, I have a whole bunch of other things you could make fun of me for. Like the Union Jack mini fridge over there in the corner or my huge Ferris Buller poster."

Harry chuckled and shook his head at his feet, walking over to the pool table that looked as if it was abandoned by the noisy people that were now audible on the nearby balcony.

He bent over the table, his shirt riding up a bit again, and acting as if he was playing the game seriously, taking the white ball into his palm. He closed one eye and slid it smoothly to cause a domino effect against the others, three balls finding their way into the table's holes.

Louis' forced his eyes away from Harry, moving his attention to the large movie theater size tele on the right side of the room's wall. He read to himself what it projected, sounding astonished at the words, "no signal".

"I'm just curious about one thing," he heard Harry's voice ask as he groaned at the messed up television. Louis' eyes glanced away from it, now finding Harry walking towards him and the Spider-Man statue.

"Should I insert to have fun or is it a waste of my time?" Harry's voice was deep and his eyes narrowed devilishly at Louis', nearly inches away from his face.

Louis' eyes fell from Harry's sinfully green ones and to his plump lips, thanks to his water bottle. Yet Harry chuckled his familiar laugh before brushing past Louis, leaving the only form of contact between them being their shoulders bumping.

Harry leaned against the nearby PacMan machine, putting his hands on the sides of the buttons. Louis giggled awkwardly, coming into realization of what Harry, of course, meant as he read the machine's flashing quote on the top of the screen in his head.

" **INSERT TO HAVE FUN!** "

"Oh! I don't have to pay. Cool," Harry giggled, starting a round of PacMan and getting familiar with the buttons fairly quick.

"You'll never beat my high score," Louis said, moving to stand next to Harry and watch him play the first round. At least Louis hoped Harry couldn't beat his score, no one could even though everyone who came into this room tried at least once.

"I spent my days in the arcade when I was growing up. PacMan is my shit," Harry glanced over to Louis as he ate a pair of cherries. Louis rolled his eyes jokingly and watched Harry get intense with the game.

He sighed with relief when Harry got ate by the pink ghost, causing Harry to glance over to him and stick his tongue out, earning a cute giggle from Louis before turning his attention back towards the console.

Louis watched Harry continue to play with determination, at one point Louis even putting his closed water bottle against his eye and Harry giggling at him.

They exchanged banter as Louis wanted to get Harry caught off guard and to possibly mess up. Louis would get nervous as Harry would continue onto the next level because frankly, Harry was as good as he was. He made a happy noise as Harry lost a life, causing him to notice Harry's reflection in the screen failing to hold back a grin.

A loud mixture of sounds escaped from the doors on the side of them as Harry was not admitting that he was struggling with a high level and a dangerously low amount of lives left. Niall stumbled into the room, cackling as he nearly fell, yet Jeff catching him from almost landing flat on his face.

"Oi!" Niall yelled, throwing his arm around Jeff's neck as they walked closer to Louis and very concentrating Harry.

"Hey," Jeff said quieter, obviously a lot more sober than Niall.

"Are you two fiddling with each other's joysticks, yeah?" Niall asked before bursting into loud laughter, Jeff looking down at his shoes and laughing along guiltily. Louis pursed his lips and closed his eyes, holding back a laugh as Harry continued to be 100% focused on the game.

"Don't mind us. Niall has to pee and I refused to let him do it off the balcony. We're going safely to the bathroom," Jeff explained as they walked past, him still tugging Niall along.

"Boom!" Harry exclaimed, now on the level before the one Louis had set his high score on.

"No fookin' way," Louis muttered in disbelief as he turned his attention back to the screen.

Harry giggled and straightened out his long legs, playing the game with every inch of passion he had. Except that wasn't enough. Louis watched as Harry was on his last life, Louis muttering comments at him to fail and giggling along with each one.

"FUCK!" Harry hollered as he was ate by a orange ghost, slamming his hands near the buttons before tucking his head between his arms in defeat. " **GAME OVER** " appeared across the screen as Louis laughed and happily jumped along to the end screen music.

"I told you! I told you! You couldn't do it!" Louis chuckled loudly, Harry picking up his head and laughing at Louis.

They both laughed as Harry looked back at the screen, the game wanting him to put his initials under the #1 high score: _LOU_

"Look how close I was!" Harry laughed, motioning a jokingly aggressive hand to the screen.

Louis giggled, "but you didn't win, hm? I'm still the king. Still the king of _my_ PacMan!"

Harry laughed as he shook his head, putting in " _HES_ " with the #2 high score. "There. You happy?" Harry asked, giggling as he looked over to Louis.

Louis nodded and chuckled, "yes."

Both their heads sprung towards the transparent doors again, the striped shirt girl from earlier in the night coming tumbling in with the shaggy haired lad attached to her waist.

"Look at your eye, mate!" the lad hollered, drunkenly pointing to Louis' swollen eye as the girl made herself at home on the large sectional couch. The guy's dazed eyes then looked at Harry curiously, barely open enough to see anything.

"Are you like... Jesus, man?" he slurred, making both of Harry's eyebrows raise in amusement. Louis began to giggle softly along with Harry, exchanging a funny glance. The drunk laughed along, unknowing of what even was funny about his serious question.

He softly brushed past Louis and sent a hand to stroke down Harry's hair calmly. Louis stood to the side and watched, holding back a cackle behind his hand as Harry's eyes grew wide at the contact. "I'm so sorry Jesus," the lad said almost incoherently before bursting into drunken tears, falling onto Harry's chest and leaving Louis to actually cackle without holding his hand against his mouth. Harry giggled, shaking his head in disbelief as he cradled the boy against his patterned shirt, not wanting him to fall and be hungover plus in a horrible pain tomorrow morning.

The boy sprung straight back up, tears running down his cheeks before silently stumbling towards the edge of the pool table. Harry and Louis exchanged glances, both laughing softly with raised eyebrows.

Jeff and Niall both entered back into the somewhat quiet room, Niall yodeling some Irish song loudly as Jeff continued to tug him along, his zipper down and all.

"This is a mess," Harry laughed quietly, Louis being the only one to hear him and giggle along in agreement.

The other two lads appeared into the room too, shutting the balcony door and seeming sober enough to actually comprehend their surroundings. Louis noticed their hair and shoulders, a little wet compared to the rest of their dry bodies.

"Well, it's raining," the brunette laughed as they began to walk in, shaking their hair at the floor.

Louis' eyes glared around tiredly, the quiff haired guy now asleep on the pool table and the girl sprawled out on the couch. He watched Niall giddily dance all the way to the two guys, leaving Louis, Harry, and Jeff to stand there and chuckle at him.

A familiar tone began to screech from besides Louis, catching his attention and disgust. Harry sent a hand through his back pocket, taking out his cracked phone from behind and beginning to walk away, answering the suspiciously late phone call.

"I suppose I'll have some guest staying the night?" Louis muttered quietly, glancing over to Jeff.

Jeff sighed, folding his arms across his chest, "should we take them to rooms? I'd feel bad to just leave them out."

"They aren't going to throw up in my bedrooms. I say lock the balcony and leave them here," Louis chuckled silently, his eyes traveling from the mini ping-pong table and to Harry's dark shadow standing in the doorway. His hip was cocked out as he held the phone to his ear, his hand placed softly on his waist.

"You can stay in one of them, of course. Just not one of these, drunken zombies," Louis giggled, extending an arm to them.

"Main reason I didn't drink too much. If I came back to the hotel room wasted, I'd be sent out to sleep on the street," Jeff joked, causing Louis to chuckle along. He looked back towards Jeff's direction, placing his now hot water bottle against his eye.

"Got yourself a black eye? Well, more like a purple, blue, and yellow eye, I guess," Jeff chuckled, staring and examining the water bottle over Louis' eye.

Louis rolled his left eye jokingly, "should've seen the one I left on 'em."

As Jeff laughed at what Louis just said, the ginger and dark haired lads walked up to them. "Quite the looker you got there," the ginger joked, causing Jeff and the brunette to attempt to hold back loud laughs, eventually failing. 

"Ha ha ha, very funny. Joke about the lad with a basically swollen closed eye," Louis said, making them all laugh along with him even more.

"William," the ginger said as he stuck his hand out to Louis. He removed his water from his eye before shaking Will's hand with mischievous grin, noting his humor and tight grip.

"And I'm Dan," the brunette said, shaking Louis' hands much softer.

"Nice to meet you two," Louis said with a comforting smile before watching them step back to their original positions. Louis could see their tenseness, both of them obviously seeming to be the least bit conscious and attempting to act decent in such an influential persons presence.

Jeff sighed exaggeratedly, breaking the growing silence. "Uh, so, we were just heading back to our flat. We were gonna take Grace and Charlie back home before hitting the streets again," Dan said before taking a sip from the cup in his hand.

"So I don't have to take care of zombies tonight," Louis joked to Jeff, gaining curious glances from William and Dan.

"Uh, yeah. I'll take Grace and Niall home and you guys can take Charlie. We won't want to bother Louis over here," Jeff said, his attitude seeming a little suspicious than it's former tone.

"Niall can stay here," Louis jumped to say, exchanging looks with all the men, "he most likely has to work tomorrow and I'll make sure to push him out the door instead of letting him call in sick for the fourth weekend in a row."

They all nodded and chuckled before the silence fell over again. William began to walk over to the pool table, where now the guy supposedly named Charlie laid. Dan followed and right when they were far enough away to not hear Jeff mutter, Louis turned towards him.

"I'm not letting these young boys take Grace home. I'll take her to her house or she can stay in Glenne and I's hotel room," he said so quietly as they both watched William and Dan poke at the drunk asleep on the table.

"You're right. She can stay here, if you'd like. I can have a car for her in the morning," Louis offered in a hushed tone.

"I can take her back to our hotel. We have an extra room and Glenne makes the best hangover tea. Trust me," he chuckled, making Louis crinkle his eyes and grin.

"Plus, we've already cost you enough trouble for the night. C'mon, I think you need some more ice, Tomlinson," Jeff chuckled in a much louder volume, punching Louis' arm playfully.

"I may-" Louis began to say but was caught off by a deep clearing of a throat.

Both Jeff and Louis' attention were directed to some wheres over their shoulders, more specifically, Harry walking towards them from behind.

"Uh, I've got to, um, be going," Harry's voice spoke softly as he kept his eyes glued down towards his phone.

"Ok," Jeff replied in the matching soft tone.  
Louis attempted to exchange a glance with Jeff then with Harry before asking, "is something wrong?"

Jeff looked towards Louis, as if he was confused Louis didn't know the obvious. "Um, no. I just must be going because it's late and, yeah," Harry spoke, still not looking up from his text messages to someone on his phone.

"Do you need a ride or something?" Jeff asked, putting his hands in his pants pockets and taking a step back.

"No. I can get a taxi, I'm sure," Harry said, looking up to Jeff as he tucked his phone away in his back pocket.

Louis glared between Jeff and Harry again, "that's a bit dangerous, don't 'ya think? It's late on a Friday night. I'm sure I could manage to take you home, if you'd-" But before he could finish his request, Harry broke in, "no. I mean, no thank you. I have money and I've caused you enough trouble."

"It's ok. I-I don't mind," Louis said in a softer voice.

"Thank you. But I must be going. It was nice meeting you Louis," Harry nodded to him with a small grin.

"Pleasure meeting you too," he replied, nodding back to Harry.

"Bye Jeff, bye... everyone," he waved over to Will, Dan, and Niall. And before Louis could even look away from the three lads playing with the body on the table and back to Harry, he noticed the slim figure disappearing from the room and what Louis thought was going to be forever.

 

_**April 30, 2016** _

 

Louis' eyes gazed up at the ceiling, a sudden pain jolting him awake from his somewhat short feeling sleep.

His head was throbbing and his right eye felt as if it had swollen up to the size of a tennis ball. It was 6 o'clock in the morning, or so his alarm clock next to his bed said so, making him groan into his pillow at the thought of his 7 o'clock daily morning run.

He rolled over onto his side, facing towards the still put together comforter that spread across the rest of the bed. For a minute, he stared at it, wondering if somehow his life was mocking him or someone, somewhere's was slowly starting to give Louis the karma they thought he deserved.

He laid there for a while, enduring the pain of his injury and local morning news show playing loudly on his TV. He rolled over and grabbed the remote, changing the station to the TGBC1 Breakfast Show. Louis smiled at their new set in the background, knowing he had helped work out the amount given to them only about a month ago.

He tugged the comforter up to cover his lips, getting very comfortable in the warm bed as he watched them interview some comedian on their new show on Netflix.

As he chuckled to himself about something the guest had said, his phone began to ring besides him, making him jump from the unexpected noise.

He groaned before picking up the phone, noticing the name to be his assistant that specifically worked only on Mondays through Thursday's.  "Hello?" his voice spoke softly, a bit groggy since he had just woken up.

"Mr. Tomlinson! Hey, erm, it's me... Josh!" the assistant's voice spoke enthusiastically, definitely not still phased by the early hour of the day.

"Yes, I do have caller ID," Louis replied, closing both his eyes and inhale softly.

Josh giggled awkwardly, "I'm not waking you am I?"

"You're lucky I was already up," Louis said, opening his eyes tiredly.

Josh let out what sounded like a thankful sigh of relief before saying, "good. I'm just calling to remind you I'm leaving this morning for my sister's wedding, like you asked. I have Mr. Smith's assistant handling your calls and mail this week, since he's on... break."

Louis knew "break" was Josh's kind way of saying "ran off with his mistress and hasn't been seen since mid-March", even though only a few were suppose to know.

"Ah, yes. I hadn't forgotten but thank you for reminding me. Can you send me Smith's assistants number please?" Louis asked as he slowly pulled the covers over his head, disappearing from the daylight escaping from the curtain-less windows.

"Can do! Her name is Elizabeth and she kind of looks like Lupita Nyong'o. She's actually really gorge-" but before Josh could finish his ramble about a fellow co-worker, Louis chimed in chuckling.

"Ok, ok. You have fun and enjoy yourself, alright? I'll have everything handled."

But that was a lie. Louis couldn't even remember a time before he had an assistant or how he handled his busy schedule by himself. Even when he was starting out, he usually ordered around his stepdad's personal assistant as if he was his own. Which now that he thought about it, it made him realize how much of a twat he was.

"Thank you so much Mr. Louis! I wish you the best," Josh said in a sincere tone, making Louis cringe under the covers.

"Ok. Goodbye," Louis said, rushing off the phone.

"Goodbye," Josh replied before hanging up.

Louis clicked the phone off and placed it on his tummy, letting out a loud groan as he removed his head and shoulders from underneath the covers. He had skipped his morning run like he always ended up doing on weekends, promising he'd do it next weekend yet knowing that most likely wasn't going to happen.

He brought a hand up to his eye, patting it again before sitting up and deciding to go get some ice for it. Or he assumed he was suppose to, considering he had never been in a fight and got struck right in the eye before.

As Louis walked to the kitchen, he reflected on his younger self and quite literally did not know how he had not gotten in a fight before yesterday night, considering, as mentioned, he was a huge dick when he was younger. And in addition, he played football his entire life and not once had any major injuries other than pulling something in his back.

Louis watched his feet as he stepped into the kitchen but quickly jolted backwards at the sight of a stranger walking out his pantry.

"Oi! Hey mate!" the hipster guy said, his v-neck quite literally low enough to see his belly button and his beard well overgrown. "Nasty eye you got there. Might want to put some ice on it! That's about all you can do," he said with a shrug of his shoulders before cursing to himself and bowing his head. Louis watched in disgust, the hungover caveman drinking _Louis'_ Evian water. 

"Oh," he swallowed hard, "I was just leaving."

Louis mouth was agape a bit, hands balled up in fists in his plaid pajama pants, "yeah."

"Thanks for standing up to that guy for me though. That was pretty sweet," the guy said, taking another sip of his water and not seeming like he was "just leaving".

"Don't mention it," Louis said, walking over to the cabinet that contained sandwich bags. He got on his tippy toes and picked one out, placing the extra one that escaped back into the nearly empty box.

"Can I- may I take another water. Like for the road? I've got quite the massive hangover," the lad chuckled as Louis put ice into the bag.

He turned around, narrowing his eyes scarily at the random guy before a small, evil grin spread across his lips, "go ahead."

The lad nodded and smiled before walking next to Louis, grabbing a water from the nearby fridge and closing it really loudly.

"Thanks mate. I've got to be going though, see 'ya around?" he said in a way too happy tone for a hungover guy.

Louis looked up from his hands zipping the bag shut with a face of disbelief, hesitating before saying, "uh... sure."

"Alright cool. Bye!" he hollered as he disappeared from Louis' sight, making the house return back to it's usual quiet morning state.

As Louis picked up more, even though he stayed up for forever last night cleaning, he held the ice-pack close to his eye and sang along to 90's hits. As he reached the last and most dreaded part, he opted out before even laying an eye on the room and decided to just call a maid service from the lobby instead. He would defiantly let someone else clean up the random guy and Bethany's mess.

Louis finally sat back down on his couch, relieved and relaxed to finally have no other distractions. He figured he'd watch some tele to keep his mind off the eye he had just took medicine for.

A channel that exclusively played celebrity news and housewife-like shows popped up on the screen, making Louis grin at how Harry left the channel on. Louis changed it to a sports channel, a footie player with long, messy hair appearing on the screen, his hair moving more sporadically than his feet kicking the ball.

Louis puckered his lips, furrowing his eyebrows as the long, messy haired footie player reminded him a lot of Harry from last night too.

The Harry who nearly beat his infamous PacMan score while simultaneously making Louis curious in the long-limbed goon. Maybe it was the fact that Harry was taller and bigger than Louis, and that nothing about him was small, but he acted as if he didn't know how different he was. He seemed carefree and like a free spirit, making Louis grin at the thought of meeting someone new in such a way.

He grabbed his phone, saving it from sitting on the dangerous arm of the chair. He pulled up Jeff's name before typing in the iMessage box, " _Hey . Can you give me Harry's number ?_ ". Nope, too desperate. He deleted it and retyped, " _Who's that Harry bloke from last night ?_ ". No, too creepy sounding. He deleted it and retyped again, " _I'm doing a search for new artist ! Can you give me that Harry lad's number ?_ ". Nah uh, too staged. He sighed and clicked off his phone, putting his head back onto the couch and telling himself he didn't need to be acting like a teenage girl anyways.

 

_**May 1, 2016** _

 

It was Monday afternoon and Louis had swore every single person in the building not afraid of him had asked him about his black eye. And noting that Louis did not plan a story for when people asked what had happened, he used his deceiving businessman skills to say he was playing goalie and a friend kicked the ball straight into his face.

It was only Monday afternoon and Louis was drowning in work because quite frankly Mr. Smith's assistant was shit and did not help at all. Yet now he sat alone in his office, expecting a call from his mum anytime now.

 

**Author's Note:**

> To Be Continued...


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